Western U.S. Wildfires Decline in Number but Burn More Acres, Study Finds
A recent study led by Amirhossein Montazeri, a PhD student at Boise State University, reveals a paradoxical trend in wildfire activity across the western United States. While the total number of wildfires has decreased by 31% between 1992 and 2020, the acreage burned has risen by 40%. The research, published in Environmental Research Letters, analyzed over 750,000 wildfires during this period. The decline in wildfire starts, particularly smaller fires under 10 acres (down 33%), is attributed to successful awareness and prevention campaigns. However, climate change has created warmer and drier conditions, leading to a 63% increase in large fires (over 25,000 acres) and a 136% rise in very large fires (over 125,000 acres). These conditions also contribute to more intense and rapidly growing fires, as highlighted by additional research from the Mountain West News Bureau. 
